I travel frequently and have rented cars all over the world, but what happened today at Luton Airport was by far the strangest and most frustrating experience I’ve ever had.I found what looked like a great deal online — just £40 for a few hours — and booked it. When I arrived at the Drivalia location to pick up the car, I was told I needed to place a £2,500 (about $3,000 USD) hold on my credit card. That’s absolutely ridiculous for such a short rental. I asked why this wasn’t mentioned during the booking process, and the employee aggressively told me I should have paid more attention. I even handed him my phone and asked him to go through the booking process himself to show me where this information was listed — he couldn’t. He showed me on his phone, and I said, “I didn’t book the car on your phone!”Eventually, we agreed that if I paid an extra £50 for insurance, I could skip the deposit. Fine — but then it got even worse. My name wasn’t on their list. When they checked my booking reference, it turned out the car was reserved at a completely different airport, over an hour away. I’ve been doing this monthly for years — I don’t make mistakes like this. Their system did.And to top it all off: no refund.I don’t mind losing £40, but it’s the principle. This felt like a scam, and I can only imagine how many people get caught in this trap every day. Just a heads-up: Drivalia is not trustworthy. Be extremely cautious if you’re considering booking with them.
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